24 states sold petrol above fixed price in August —NBS

Twenty four states of the federation sold Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, at an average price of over N145 per litre in August, according to a new report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Recall that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, had in May 2016 announced an upward review of PMS pump price by the Federal Government from N86.50 to N145.00, and directed filling stations across the country not to sell the product above the fixed price.

According to Kachikwu, the hike was the only way out of the exorbitant prices of N150 to N250 Nigerians were subjected to at many filling stations across the country during yuletide.

But in the latest PMS Price Watch report for August by NBS, only thirteen (13) states including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, complied with the directive, while the pump price of the product remained above the fixed price in other states in the review month.

According to the report, the average price paid by consumers for petrol increased by 1.7 percent to N146.90 per litre in August 2018 when compared with the same month in the previous year.

It said states with the highest average price of PMS in the review month were Borno, Kebbi and Kwara, which sold a litre at N157.00, N152.94 and N152.86, respectively.

It added that states with the lowest average price of the product for August 2018 were Ekiti, Katsina and Bauchi which sold at N144.23, N144.08 and N143.89, respectively.

Across geo-political zones, the North East zone recorded the highest average price of N148.81 per litre, while the South West zone sold the product at an average price of N145.01 per litre for the month under review.